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UN programme chief calls for siege to be lifted for Gaza reconstruction

May 13, 2015 at 9:48 am

A senior UN official called on Tuesday for Israel’s eight-year siege of the Gaza Strip to be lifted in order to begin the reconstruction of the houses and public facilities destroyed by the Israeli offensive last summer, Quds Press has reported.

Speaking at a press conference, the Special Representative of the Director-General of the United Nations Development Programme in Palestine, Froude Moring, insisted that construction materials should be allowed into the enclave. He added that the Palestinian unity government must take a role in the reconstruction of the Strip, stressing that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, would support reconstruction projects.

“We are unable to raise funds quickly for the reconstruction,” Moring said, “but we are still dependent on the international community to pay for the reconstruction.” He noted that not very much money has been raised for the reconstruction of Gaza. At the same time, he said that the UNDP supports sustainable development projects in Gaza, but stressed that the border crossings must be opened and the siege must be lifted.

The UN official also revealed that the international body had suggested to the Palestinian Authority an initiative regarding the issue of employees recruited during the period when Hamas ran the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip. It was, he explained, based in the first instance on merging education and health ministry workers into one bloc.